The Nameless

by Ray Wallace

Nameless. They move through the city streets under cover of darkness, claiming human prey. Powerful. Flesh-hungry. Immortal. One short of the thirteen that would make their Coven strong. But the Master Nicolae has seen in a vision the face of a mortal woman, young, beautiful, who will claim the vacant position within the Coven. But first she must become Nameless. Ariella is no stranger to pain. Having lost everyone close to her, she has finally ended her relationship with on-again, off-again boyfriend, Jake. She loves him too much, and there is no way she can face heartbreak again. But Jake cannot let Ariella go. They were meant to be together, of this he is certain. And he will do anything to keep her. Anything. Even follow her into the dark and hidden world of the Nameless. Nameless. It's what they are, what they've always been. And they will stop at nothing to keep it that way.

Genres: Vampires, Horror

250 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2009

About the author

Ray Wallace hails from the Tampa, FL area and is the author of THE NAMELESS, THE HELL SEASON, the YEAR OF THE DEAD series, the short story collection LETTING THE DEMONS OUT, the novella DAYS OF RAIN, and the One Way Out novels ESCAPE FROM ZOMBIE CITY, ESCAPE FROM ZOMBIE ISLAND, and ESCAPE FROM ZOMBIE PLANET.

"For a first novel, THE NAMELESS is outstanding..."
-- HORROR WORLD

"ESCAPE FROM ZOMBIE CITY is a really fun read and welcome addition to zombie literature."
-- SHROUD MAGAZINE

"DAYS OF RAIN... marks the emergence of a major talent and should not be missed."
-- HORROR AFTER DARK

Reviews

[William Malmborg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Imagine a world where vampires exist and feed on human blood the way good horrific creatures of the night should. Pretty freaky, right? I mean, seriously, who would want to walk the dark nighttime streets in a world where being feasted upon by such a creature was a possibility. Not me. As it stands, I tend to stay away from settings in the real world where I could potentially be a meal, so one overrun by vampires . . . nope. I don’t want to be anywhere near it. However, if forced to choose between a world with vampires and the world presented in the book The Nameless, I would probably have to choose the one with the vampires. After all, if I didn’t want to live in a world where vampires were at the top of the food chain, why in the hell would I choose one where vampires are actually a step below an even worse creature, one that doesn’t just suck your blood and call it a night? Um . . . no thanks!

Such is the world that Ariella lives in, though, like many people, she isn’t aware of this for quite some time due to its secrecy being strictly preserved by those very creatures. In fact, these creatures are so good at keeping things a secret that most humans would probably laugh at the very notion of vampires, let alone a creature that has possibility evolved from them to become an even more powerful being that consumes the flesh, blood, and bone of its victims. Chances are even Ariella would be one of those expelling laughter at the idea, that is, until she becomes one of them herself. Chosen by Nicolae to be the queen of his coven, Ariella soon finds herself transformed into a flesh-craving monster, one that has near superhuman abilities. The only downside, she is vulnerable to sunlight. Oh, and she must follow the rules set down by Nicolae. The first she complies with, the second, um, not so much. Before being turned Ariella was in a relationship with a man named Jake, one that she goes back to on a whim and turns, her hope being they can now be together forever. Having broken a rule, however, she panics and returns to the coven, thus leaving Jake on his own and confused as to his new flesh-craving desires. She also has broken his heart, again (a habit she often indulged in when human), only this time he is not going to simply sit back and wait for her to return. Nope. He is going to find her. The question is will Nicolae and his coven allow for someone to not only feed without restraint, but take their newfound queen? Sounds like a fight is coming.

The Nameless by Ray Wallace is an exciting read that presents a fun new vampire-type of world, one that I think horror fans will really enjoy and want more of should the author continue adding volumes and tales. Told from several different viewpoint characters, each of whom is connected in someway to the Nameless coven, the book clips along at a nice pace while also building intensity as the conclusion looms ever closer. Even more impressive, Ray Wallace has written a book that pretty much focuses solely on creatures everyone should hate given their brutal, unapologetic savagery, yet in the end one finds themselves cheering them on. It doesn’t matter who or how innocent the victim is, when entering the scene readers will want and look forward to the kill and subsequent feasting that will take place by whatever creature is being focused on at that point. Achieving such a situation is not easy, and because of this, and the intriguing new vampire world that is presented (one that I want more of), I urge everyone to give this one a look. You’ll be glad you did.

[Robert Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not the first book by Ray Wallace I have read, and it won't be the last. In The Nameless, Wallace manages to breathe new life into the all too dumbed-down and enfeebled creature that was once at the top of the proverbial horror food chain. His characters are strong and well developed, and his plot is complex. A theme that permeated from the character Nicolae was specifically intriguing to me as it highly resembled that of the messiah or lord (in this case to his small coven); much like the character of Paul Atreides from Frank Herbert's masterpiece, Dune. And then there are the characters of Jake and Ariella and their all too human, jaded and broken relationship throughout the story. And then there's the partaking of human flesh and blood and lots of it. I highly recommend this book to fans of Anne Rice's vampire series, Richard Matheson's I am Legend, and just good old-fashioned horror with great characters and an interesting plotline. My only complaint is that it felt like it ended far too soon. You be the judge as to whether that's truly a complaint or not though.

[Bandit · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is sort of an equivalent of an above average diner food, satisfying enough but far from great. Here I am rating it more so on potential than actual contents, as in this author shows a good deal of potential, he can compose a decent story and his writing style is pretty smooth and nicely paced. The book itself is yet another vampire novel, which I'm not a huge fan off, with not enough of a twist to keep things original. I mean yes, these vampires eat flesh instead of merely drinking blood, but it still reads pretty much like a plain vampire story catered toward the goth kids. The book was obviously written with sequels in mind, although I sincerely hope that the author leaves it alone and puts his talent to writing genuinely original stories. I have his other novel and a short story collection which I intend to check out, based on the quality of writing of Nameless, not so much quality of Nameless itself. Vampire fans would enjoy this book.